


a sign of the times

by missmaier



Series: right beside you [1]
Category: The Walking Dead (Telltale Video Game)
Genre: Angst, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Learning sign language, Post-Broken Toys, Sign Language
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-17
Updated: 2019-01-17
Packaged: 2019-10-11 11:49:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,770
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17446409
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/missmaier/pseuds/missmaier
Summary: the ericson kids find a book on american sign language in the school library, and decide to surprise louis with it.





	a sign of the times

**Author's Note:**

> episode 3 stomped on my heart and then shot it and then stabbed it then shattered it so naturally i wrote this
> 
> this is in the violet route, assuming aj shot lilly and james survived and That happened to Louis
> 
> enjoy!

“I know there’s one in here…” Violet rummaged through the bookshelves, and Clementine nearly coughed from all the dust she was kicking up. This place hadn’t been kept very clean over the years, and the books were accompanied by heaps of cobwebs and lint. Clementine stood at the base of the ladder Violet was standing on to look at the top shelf, holding it steady for her. Violet pulled another book off the shelf, and hissed in agitation.

“Still nothing?” Clementine asked, a little disappointed. Violet shook her head, climbing down the ladder. Clementine shuffled out of her way and moved the ladder to the next shelf.

“I know there  _ is  _ one. I saw it,” Violet said, climbing up the ladder again. 

Clementine’s lips quirked into a smile. “Why would you have gone looking for a book on sign language?”

“I didn’t go looking,” Violet said, picking up a book and dusting off the cover, only to shove it back on a shelf. “When the world went to shit and we lost electricity, a lot of us holed up in here and read books to keep ourselves from going crazy. I remember reading one about sign language.”

Clementine hummed, looking behind her at Ruby, who was holding the base of a ladder for AJ. “Any luck?”

“Nope,” AJ said, putting a book back on its shelf, rather sloppily. “Man, there are so many books in here. What were they for?”

“Well, the teachers had to fix our misguided behavior somehow. And what better way to do that is there than making us read out of a textbook?” Ruby said, a light smile on her face. “We hated these things, but they sure were a blessing when the adults ran out on us.”

Just then, Tenn and James popped their heads in. James, after the encounter on the boat, had chosen to stay with the Ericson kids at the school for good. He was adjusting well, though he was still on the quiet and socially awkward side. “Have you found it?” Tenn asked in a whisper just loud enough for them to hear, and Clementine shook her head.

“Nope, not yet. Why?”

“He wants to know where you guys are.”

“Shit,” Violet cursed, shoving another unsuccessful book on the shelf. “Stall him.”

Tenn looked confused. “How?”

“I don’t  _ know! _ Go… show him some flowers or something,” Violet said, turning her attention back to the shelf. Tenn scurried out of the room, and James approached Clementine.

“How can I help?” James asked, voice soft.

“Uh… you can help Willy clean the piano,” Clementine said, nodding over at Willy, who was using a rag to dust off the large grand piano in the corner of the room, greeting Willy with a smile and picking up his own rag to dust off the strings.

“Aha!” Violet’s sudden exclamation startled Clementine, and she looked up to see Violet holding a book with a victorious smile on her face. “Found it.”

Clementine held the ladder steady for Violet, and looked over her shoulder at the book. It was some sort of sign language dictionary. It was in decent shape, considering; the spine was a little rough looking,  AJ and Ruby came over as well, hovering over them. “It’s a little boring,” Clementine said, looking at the dry words of a textbook. “But it’ll do. AJ, go get Tenn and Louis.”

AJ nodded, and ran out of the room at top speed. James and Willy wandered over, Willy nearly bouncing off the walls. “I can’t wait for him to see!”

“Alright, calm down. We don’t want to overwhelm him,” Violet chuckled, a good-natured grin playing on her lips.

The door opened, and the kids nearly jumped out of their skin, but it was just Aasim and Omar. They all heaved a sigh. “Are we late?” Aasim asked, shutting the door behind him.

“Almost,” Ruby teased. “AJ went to go get Louis and Tenn. They’ll be here any second.”

“Awesome,” Aasim said, and right as he did, the door pushed open, with Tenn and AJ pulling Louis in by the hand.

Louis blinked in surprise at seeing the group waiting for him, then let out a gasp at the room. The kids had decked out the music room in all the decorations they could scrounge up, and Ruby had lit the same violet candles from the party they’d had before the raid on the boat. The room was dripping in purple lighting, with drawings from AJ and Tenn on the walls and a banner that read, “We love you, Louis!”

Louis looked at them, eyes wide, and Violet stepped forward, Clementine right behind her. “So, Clem thought-”

“ _ We _ thought,” Clementine corrected her, smiling. She wasn’t about to take credit for this idea.

Violet rolled her eyes. “Fine.  _ We _ thought that it might be nice if we scrounge up that old sign language book and teach it to you while learning it ourselves. You know, so you don’t have to scribble on that notebook all the time.”

Louis’ jaw dropped for a moment, and Clementine was nervous he wasn’t going to move for the next hour, until he swept both girls into a hug. Violet grunted in surprise and Clementine laughed, hugging him back and burying her face into the fur lining of his coat.

He pulled back after a moment, pulling a pen out of his pocket and writing on the notepad he always carried around with him after the boat. Louis turned it to face them, and Violet and Clementine leaned in to read it.

_ Thank you. _

Once the girls had read it, he showed it to the rest of the group, and Ruby nodded with a smile. “Anything for you, Lou.”

Violet handed Louis the book to hold and pulled him down to a sitting position, the rest of the kids sitting in a circle. AJ sat on Clementine’s left and James on her right, and she shot the latter a smile. He offered a tight smile back.

“After what you told AJ to do, with Lilly… I’ll admit I had my doubts about you, Clementine,” James said. Clementine’s brows furrowed, but he continued. “I think I was wrong. You are a good person. I can see it now.”

Clementine gave him a nod, and he nodded back. Louis flipped open the book, and Violet looked over his shoulder. “Maybe we should start with the alphabet?” She suggested, pointing at the front pages that taught the basic signing alphabet. Louis squinted to see it better, then made an L with his right hand, then an O, then put two fingers up together, then his pinkie, then a fist. He pointed at himself.

“Louis.” Clementine said with a smile, and Louis mirrored it.

“May as well start somewhere, right?” Violet said, and giggled as she spotted AJ trying to mirror Louis, who was coaching him. “I can already tell this was a great idea.”

Louis held up another fist, and moved his pinkie in a dipping motion, then pointed at AJ. “Is that my name?” AJ asked, and when Louis nodded, AJ mimicked the action. “Cool.”

“Wait a minute, what’s the difference between a and s?” Willy piped up, holding up his own fist. “It looks the same.”

Violet peered over Louis’ shoulder while James spoke. “I think… with the a the thumb goes in front, and with the s it goes on the side.” 

“Other way around,” Violet corrected him.

“We’re a mess,” Aasim chuckled, and Clementine laughed.

“We’ll get it,” Clementine said, holding up her own fist and moving her thumb. “A and s. A and s.”

Louis went around the circle, signing everyone’s name, and when he got to Clementine, he groaned.

“You can just do Clem if you want,” she suggested, and Louis nodded in relief. He did a C, then an L,  then curled down his finger tips into the top pad of his palm and bending the thumb undeneath, then pointed three fingers out straight. Then pointed at Clementine. “I like that,” Clementine smiled, mimicking the motion.

Louis flipped to another page of the book, then held his fist in front of his mouth and squeezed, twice. “What does that mean?” Clementine asked, her brows furrowed, and Violet rolled her eyes.

“It means orange.”

“Hey!” Clementine exclaimed, and it caused the kids in the circle to start laughing. Soon, she joined them, shooting AJ a smile. “What do you think, kiddo?”

“It’s cool!” AJ said excitedly, turning to Louis. “What’s the sign for cool?”

The kids were there the rest of the day and well into the night, passing Louis’ book around and teaching each other some things in sign language once they mastered the alphabet. They signed until their hands hurt and once the younger kids started to droop, they decided to retire for the night.

Clementine, Violet and AJ walked Louis to his room, and before he went inside to sleep, he gave each of them a tight hug. He signed  _ thank you _ , and Clementine smiled. “Of course. Would love to do it again sometime. Say… how does tomorrow night sound?” She asked, looking at AJ for approval.

“Yeah!” AJ said, bouncing on his heels, and Louis nodded, the smile never leaving his face. 

“It’s settled, then,” Violet said, giving Louis’ hand a squeeze. “Goodnight.” She reached for Clem’s hand as well. “And good night to you too. And AJ.”

Louis signed  _ goodnight _ , slowly, and Violet offered them one last smile before she went to her room for the night. “Goodnight, Lou,” Clementine said, and he signed back.

_ Goodnight, orange and AJ. _

Clementine rolled her eyes, gently ushering AJ away. “That’s the first thing we work on tomorrow.” Louis smiled, and went into his room as Clementine and AJ walked back to theirs.

“We did good. Right, Clem?” AJ asked as he hopped onto his bed and Clementine pulled the blankets over him.

“Yeah, we sure did, kiddo,” Clementine said.

“I haven’t seen him so happy since before the raiders came. It was good to see him smile again,” AJ said, and Clementine gently put a hand on his shoulder.

“I agree,” she said, standing up to blow out the candle. “Don’t worry, he’s got a lot of nights of smiling left to do.”

AJ grinned, holding up both his pinkies and motioning them in front of his face.  _ Awesome. _ Clementine chuckled.

“Goodnight, AJ.”

“Goodnight, Clem.”

As Clementine blew out the candle and darkness engulfed her room, she didn’t fail to notice that for the first night since the raiders took Louis and the others, it didn’t scare her.

 


End file.
